BANCROFT LIBRARY THE LIBRARY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA •4 Publications of the Civil-Service Reform Association No. 4 CIVIL-SERVICE REFORM NEW YORK CUSTOM-HOUSE WILLARD BROWN NEW YORK PUBLISHED FOR THE CIVIL-SERVICE REFORM ASSOCIATION BY G. P. PUTNAM'S SONS 1882 ^ i TJu Civil-Service Reform Association, Publications and Documents now ready (Jan., 1882). PUBLICATIONS. I. Purposes of the Civil-Service Reform Association, including its constitution. Per copy, 10 cts. Per 100, . . $2 75 II. The Beg^inning of the Spoils System in the National Gov- ernment, 1829-30. (Reprinted, by permission, from Parton's " Life of Andrew Jackson.") Per copy, 10 cts. Pei 100, $300 III. The Spoils System and Civil-Service Refoj ti in the Custom- House and Post-Office at New York. By Dorman B. Eaton. 136 pages, Svo. Per copy, 50 cts. Per 100, . $25 00 IV. Civil-Service Reform in the New York Custom-House. By WiLLARD Brown. Per copy, 5 cts. Per 100. . $3 00 itom- ; Sec- ^2 25 made leton, ;veral •com- 52 50 ition. 53 00 St of 50 50 .75 IN PREPARATION. A History of the Spoils System. By Geo. Wm. Curtis. The Effect of the Spoils System on Party Nominations. By Horace White. Political Assessments. By A. R. Macdonough. The Objection to the Reform that it would produce an Aristocracy of Office-Holders. By E. L. Godkin. Other publications will follow. [Donations for the general purposes of the Association are requested. Checks should be drawn to order of John C. Eno, Treasurer, and addressed to William Potts, Secretary, 44 Pine Street, New York City.] Orders for the publications will be filled by the Secretary, or by G. P. PUTNAM'S SONS, Publishers for the Society, 27 and 29 West Twenty-Third Street, New York. Publications of the Civil-Service Reform Association No. 4 CIVIL-SERVICE REFORM NEW YORK CUSTOM-HOUSE WILLARD BROWN NEW YORK PUBLISHED FOR THE CIVIL-SERVICE REFORM ASSOCIATION BY G. P. PUTNAM'S SONS 1882 X ■ANCROFT LIBRARY CIVIL-SERVICE REFORM IN THE NEW YORK CUSTOM-HOUSE. *' A LTHOUGH the system of appointment by competitive J~^ examination in the New York Custom-House has been an experiment and is by no means perfect, it has worked wonders. The increase of emulation and efficiency in the clerks has been re- markable ; so eager are they to improve and advance, that at present they often learn as much in one year as they learned un- der the old system in six years. The clerks have more indepen- dence and self-respect than formerly ; they are less cringing, and this year, for the first time in my recollection, they openly re- belled against political assessments. If I had had the utmost freedom of appointment I could not have chosen better men than those who have obtained positions under the system of competitive examinations. In fact, in order to have obtained men equal to the present officers, I should have had to resort to the present method." Such are the remarks of Naval Officer Burt on the success of competitive examinations in the New York Custom- House. The present system began under the order of March 6, 1879, and up to August i, 1881, 1,077 applicants had been examined, and 177 had secured appointments. Under the rule of patron- age, men were often appointed who were totally unfit to fulfil their official duties. Clerks would sometimes absent themselves from the custom-house for weeks, nominally to work up their election district, actually to " loaf " and dissipate ; even in the custom- 4 CIVIL SERVICE, house they had been seen in a helpless state of intoxication. If they were discharged they had only to use their political influence to be re-instated. With such influence behind him an officer was inclined to be insubordinate and insolent ; without it, he became servile, and the consequence was the loss of discipline and self- respect throughout the department. At present, however, a clerk who enters the Custom- House, having been successful, in an open examination over all competitors, knows that he has to thank him- self alone for his position, and that the least insubordination or lack of duty will cause his dismissal. Consequently there exist among the clerks ability, independence, and discipline. Collector Robertson, of the New York Custom-House, says : "When I first entered on the duties of the collectorship it was with the intention of having some method of appointment which would give the ablest and most efficient subordinate officers to my department. I was not more in favor of appointment by com- petitive examination than of any other system. T soon found, however, that it would be impossible for me ^o attend to the regular business of my office and at the same time personally examine the merits of the multitude of candidates for positions. Some system of examination was necessary, and, as I informed a committee of the New York Chamber of Commerce, I determined to give trial to the existing system of competitive examinations. In that view I have made my appointments from candidates who have obtained the highest rank in the examinations. I have made only four removals, and these were on account of intoxi- cation of officers during business hours. Appointment by com- petitive examinations is the best method which I am at present aware of, and that method I shall favor until a better one is shown me. Promotions are based on competitive examinations and on past record ; emulation, therefore, spurs on the officers to a degree of industry and patience which is remarkable for employees. The officers who were appointed through patronage have been forced on- ward by those who have entered through the competitive examina- CIVIL SERVICE. 5 tions ; they fear the ability and ambition of the new element, and while they sometimes growl and rebel they are obliged to keep up with the pace of excellence which now obtains. Our merchants have testified to the improvement in the efficiency and politeness of the Custom-House officers, and a delegation from the New York Chamber of Commerce recently waited on the Collector and made a formal request that the method of appointment by competitive examinations should be continued. The present system is by no means perfect, and it has received the opposition, both open and secret, of high officials ; but it has worked so well in comparison with the system of patronage that it may be called a remarkable success. Mr. John M. Comstock, Deputy Naval Officer and Recording Secretary of the Board of Examiners in the New York Custom- House, says : " As an experiment the competitive examinations ha.ve been eminently successful. We have had only local exami- ners ; we have had the benefit of no perfected system ; we have been hampered in our action ; yet the improvements in conse- quence of the examinations have astonished us. The new clerks are abler men than those who were appointed under the old regime ; they are more ambitious to rise, and their example has acted as a leaven to increase the efficiency of the whole depart- ment. The new system has made the officers more efficient and manly, and has raised the moral tone of the whole force. 1 do not wish it to be inferred that excellent men have not entered the service under the old system ; but it is certain that the entrance of such men must be regarded as the result of accident." At present there are 1,213 public servants in the Custom-House, with salaries amounting to $1,795,885 per annum. 1,077 of these, with salaries amounting to $1,680,150, are appointed on competi- tive examinations. In the remaining 1*36, are comprised the col- lector, deputy collectors, naval officer, deputy naval officers, sur- veyor, appraisers, engineers, ushers, laborers, etc. The following is the list of officers who were under the examination rules in October, 1880. CIVIL SERVICE. ADMISSION ONLY. PROMOTION ONLY. Inspectors . 320 Inspectresses . . 8 Night inspectors . 118 Store-keepers • . 70 Measurers of vessels 6 Weighers .... 4 Weighers' foremen . 6 Weighers' assistants . 75 Gangers 3 Gangers' assistants . 11 Officers ... 97 . . 201 Clerks, surveyor's office 3 . 18 Clerks, naval office .21 . 52 723 290 Total 1,013. The examinations are in charge of the Examining Board, which consists of Gen. N. G. Williams, Deputy Collector ; Mr. John M. Comstock, Deputy Naval Officer ; and Mr. J. L. Livingston, for the surveyor. Mr. H. W. Gourley is the acting Secretary. Any person not legally disqualified for appointment may be examined for admission, on written application to the collector or naval officer. Regular admission examinations are held quarterly, with intermediate ones when necessary. Sixty persons, on the average, apply at each admission examination, which lasts from 9 A. M. until 4 p. M. Each applicant is designated by a number, and his name is known only to the secretary of the board ; under that number his papers are examined and his rank is determined. The names of the applicants are made known to the board after the standing of each is determined. The board sends to the col- lector, naval officer, or surveyor, as the case may be, the highest names on the list, and from these the appointments are made. Some discretion is usually given to the appointing power ; thus, if CIVIL SERVICE. 7 one office is to be filled, the three highest names are sent in. Al- most invariably, however, he who obtains the highest rank receives the appointment. Those who stand high in one examination, but who fail to ob- tain an appointment, are carried over to find their appropriate rank in the next list of applicants. Thus, a person who has failed to obtain an appointment on one examination, may, without fur- ther trial, receive an appointment some months later. Examples of several examinations are given below : Date. Number examined. Salary of office. Number appointed. Highest and lowest mark of those appointed. 26th examination For admission Jan. 6, 1880 60 $1,200 9 91.90, 83.98 40th examination For admission July 8, 1880 35 1,200 10 93.41, 86.89 53d examination For admission July 14, 1881 73 1,200 6 93.21, 83.80 30th examination For promotion Feb. 19, 1880 5 2,000 3 90.09, 86.10 33d examination 1,400 For promotion M'ch25,i88o 13 and 1,600 7 87.64, 75.70 56th examination ■ For promotion Oct. 18, 1881 10 1,600 I 91. II. The officers are divided into grades represented by salaries of $1,200, $1,400, $1,600, $1,800, and $2,000. No officer can be promoted unless he obtains the minimum, or 75 per cent, of the maximum work. If, however, a high grade clerk receives the minimum mark he takes precedence over a clerk of lower grade, although the latter may receive the higher rank. For example, if 8 CIVIL SERVICE, a $1,200 and an $1,800 clerk compete for a $2,000 position, and both receive at least the minimum mark, the latter, even if lower in rank in the examination, obtains the appointment ; while the former is promoted to the $1,800 clerkship just vacated. This system of promotion has been found by experience to be advantageous. The examination papers are determined upon the day before, and are printed the night before, the examination. The utmost impartiality guides the action of the board ; a high official in the custom house, who recently desired to know the examination number of a certain applicant, was informed by the secretary of the board that such information was against the rules. Great praise is due the members of the board for the conscien- tious care and patience with which they have administered their duties. Although their work has at times been arduous they have received no compensation for it. Justice demands that they should be paid a suitable salary. The marking has become so systematized that nine tenths of it is a mere mathematical process. ' The scale of marks for admission is as follows : SUBJECTS. Dictation (including orthography) u C Notation and numeration ) '% 1 Addition . . . . j * % \ Fractions ..... ■t. Applied Problems ) ... ^ (^Accounts . • f . Geography, history, and government Grammar — syntax Letter and brief .... Penmanship .... Time General average of previous marks Total .... RELATIVE WEIGHT. 300 • 500 , 200 100 100 . 300 . 200 . 400 2,500 Within a week after the examination each candidate is informed CIVIL SERVICE. 9 of his mark and standing. His papers, which are placed upon file, can be reviewed by him at any time in the presence of the examiners, and if, in his opinion, he has been unjustly treated, he can appeal to the Board of Revision, which consists of the collector, naval officer, and surveyor. The successful candidates are placed on trial in the Custom-House, and if, at the end of six months' probation, they receive the recommendations of the heads of their departments, they obtain regular appointments. * This six-months' probation is thus made the test of faithfulness, energy, and prac- tical ability. The following are a few of the questions in a recent admission examination : What is the sum of 307 millionths, 56^ ten-thousandths, 68^ hundredths. 5 hundred-thousandths. 256^ tenths, 18^ ten-millionths, 375 units. At $0,125 P^^ pound, how much sugar can be bought for $6,255? An invoice of railway bars specifies 3,622 bars, 127 feet long, weighing 60 pounds to the yard. What will the duty amount to at the rate of 70 cents per hundred pounds ? A certain invoice amounting to £,Z^^ 8s. 3d. is subject to a dis- count oi lY-z per cent. What is the payable amount in United States currency, the ^ sterling being worth $4.8665 ? What bodies of water and of land separate the United States from South America ? Name the five important battles of the rebellion. In what does treason against the United States consist ? In grammar. Correct the following sentences : A ship sails splendid. His time as well as his money were lost. It was arranged between he and I. lO CIVIL SERVICE. Letter. — Describe the city of New York. The same general subjects are embraced in the promotion as in the admission examinations, but the latter are more technical and difficult ; in promotion, also, past record is a very important item. The following are some of the " custom " questions in the pro- motion examination of March 29, 1881. 1. What department of the customs first assumes charge of ves- sels arriving from foreign ports ? 2. What kind of papers authorizes the discharge and delivery of cargoes of merchandise ? 3. What disposition is made of unclaimed goods ? 4. Explain the difference between " bonded warehouses," "general order stores," and "appraisers' stores." 5. In which division of the Custom-House are duties first esti- mated, and in which finally adjusted ? 6. What are the duties and objects of the weighers' depart- ment ? 7. What is done with goods fraudulently imported in violation of the revenue laws ? 8. What is the " manifest" of a vessel ? Letter. — Describe your duties in the position now held by you, and state their relations to the whole course of business in the Custom-House, explaining as far as possible the nature and pur- pose of such papers and accounts as come before you. The system is new and examination questions are, therefore, not always as perfect as they might be. In promotions, for in- stance, too much attention has been given to general and too little to technical knowledge. To remedy this, not only will the papers henceforth be made more technical, but past record, which at presents counts one fifth, will probably, in the future, count much more. The admission examinations secure the entrance into the ser- vice of able men ; the promotion examinations render the em- ployees painstaking, progressive, and ambitious. Up to August I, 1881, 197 persons had been examined for promotion, and 72 CIVIL SERVICE. II had been successful. It is a striking fact that those who entered under the new rules have succeeded best in the promotion examina- tions. Although, on the average, they have constituted only ten per cent, of those who were at liberty to compete with them, they have yet obtained seventy per cent, of the total promotions in the service, or seven times as many as they were entitled to by their numbers. In other words, those who entered under the system of patronage, although having the advantages of long experience, and being on the average ten times as numerous as those who entered under the examination system, were still unable in the competitive examinations to obtain one third of the total promo- tions. This fact alone speaks volumes for the efficiency of those who have entered under the new system. The questions to answer now are : What class of men have en- tered the service under the system of examinations ? Are they mere book-worms ? Have they energy and practical capacity ? Are they industrious, trustworthy, and obedient ? The perusal of the following table will answer some of these questions. The charge has been often made that the examination is favor- able to young men who have just graduated from school or college ; but the facts are that the most successful candidates have been men between the years of thirty and thirty-nine, and that men between forty and forty-five have been more successful than those between twenty-five and twenty-nine, and equal nearly to those under twenty-five. Naturally those above forty-five have not fared so well. The great complaint of the examiners is that the men who enter the service are too old ; men above thirty-five are not always sufficiently facile, and often find difficulty in adapt- ing themselves to the routine work of their offices. The great fault which our business men find with the examina- tions is usually in the questions on geography, history, and government : these questions, they say, are adapted for school- boys and not for men of the world. But it is curious to observe, that, on these questions, applicants above thirty have been far more successful than those below that age. 12 CIVIL SERVICE. •32bI3AV ?; CO O CO r^ ■8- en c^ O CO en en |Ba3U3Q Tj- o CO ,_J N O O 't en O ■^ t^ o o O vO aj CO in vO vO I^ o m •apmudv o in ^ s en O CO in o in v^ o IBjauao CO o CO o s O in >n O R :S o in in o en „ en O t^ M M t^ in CO c<-) •4 O o -<1- r^ en rl- r^ i-> •31UTJL <> M C> d co' N en d d^ -i- •^ •^ CO en en 't '^ en en en en '^ ■^ en M en en M o o r^ en r^ en O in •diqsuBiuuaj; r^ en CO vd en r-N 00 •4 d^ oo O in en 1^ t^ r^ r^ CO CO t^ r^ r^ oo t-^ t^ o CO c^ ■!t en o r^ M O O r^ M m T}- m en W Ti- o in o •j3«aT .CO d J o in in -^ r-^ ON 4 in in m r^ in r^ r^ in in in o in in r^ r^ r^ rt en O O "^■ en CO o O vO t^ vO O '}U3UIUa3 in w o N N o o •+ Cl r^ o -AOO pUB 'i(jO; & d» vO \0 in M o en rr en o •suoqomj; d CO in co' ■4 oo ci o co' en en in o ^ in CO OO en o in in in en N O rt- O in M O O CO c^ Tt vO r^ in en N '^t- '^ l^ o •uopippv N M en o O o o r>- M en vO CO 1-^ o o r^ in CO oo r^ o in ' o in OO o CO in r~- rt oo M Tf en •uoijBjainn^ in en c^ t^ en w o c< m CO pUB UOp-BJONJ CO CO s ^ a> en CJ CO in O s m ^ ^ o CI CO r^ Tf o •uohb;oicI ui I^ CO in ■^^ en M CO M en s>[.iBui aSmsAV in o CO en CO CO oo CO CO en oo S- •asqxunjsj; i^ r^ e^ en en 2 in en CI ■* O CO ^ 8 en oo O M XI o .9 .2 o o < "tJO 1 ^n d : : : 1 s (U C 1 1 3 a o = - S2 «3